Harry Potter and the Nyght Trials
by knightcliffe
Summary: Harry Potters only wish is to have one normal year without the threat of death looming over him. However he is suprised to find this wish granted when one James Nyght becomes the fourth Triwizard Champion!
1. The unexpected Fourth Champion!

The Great Hall had fallen silent. The three champions for the Triwizard tournament had been chosen, but then when it should have ended the Goblet of Fire had sparked to life once more. Harry Potter had clenched his eyes shut desperately praying against reason that his name wouldn't be called. That he might have a normal school year, just one. So he was just as surprised as the rest of the school when Dumbledore shouted the name of one "James Nyght!" rather than his own. One moment passed, and then another before Dumbledore's voice rang out once more, the twinkle in his eye long gone. James stood slowly from his place at the Hufflepuff table as the entire table glared menacingly.

"I didn't do it." He said. "Hannah, Ernie, I didn't put my name in that cup!" James' voice wavered as he saw his two friends look at him with shock and a hidden bit of anger.

"If you would join the other champions Mr. Nyght." Dumbledore spoke with an authority that no one dared defy. James walked numbly towards the back of the hall where the first three champions waited and stepped in without a word. He staggered and threw out his hands to catch himself against a large mirror twice his size and inspected the reflection it showed. He was a bit tall for his age, with short black hair that was unmanageable if he let it grow more than a few inches. His eyes stared back at him, the dull grey lifeless irises at odd with the usually bright almost shining steel-grey that his friends would usually find. He raised his hand and felt the small scar on his chin, one of many that were earned during his childhood at his orphanage wondering how many more he would earn in this suicidal tournament. James was shook out of his stupor by a concerned looking Cedric Diggory, the proper Hogwarts Champion.

"Hey are you ok James? What are you doing back here?" James could hear the genuine concern in the older housemate's voice and hoped he could get through to him.

"I didn't do it Cedric. You have to believe me, I didn't try to enter. I- I don't know what happened." James knew what was waiting for him. He knew how dangerous the tournament was. How unlikely it would be for all the Champions to even survive the tournament, and they had three more years of magical training then he did! At that moment Dumbledore rushed in, followed closely by Professor "Mad-eye" Moody and the hurried clanking of his wooden leg.

"James, did you put your name in the Goblet?" Dumbledore asked fervently as he grasped James's shoulders.

"No! Only a crazy person would enter this thing!"

"He eez obviouszly lying Dumblydore." Madam Maxime retorted while glaring at James.

"Or perhaps this is your way of increasing Hogwarts chances of winning." Karkaroff said from the shadows of the room. James gaped at the two school heads as he felt resentment start to seethe inside him.

"Are you both daft? Why would I, a mere fourth year enter into a tournament that over half of all participants have died?" James snapped at the French headmistress before turning on Karkaroff. "And if Hogwarts was cheating as you say then why would they use a wizard with half the training of all the other champions? Why not send another seventh year?" James had quickly traded his fear for anger as he had learned to do years ago when being bullied at the orphanage he had been raised at. People preyed on fear but anger gave them pause, and gave him strength.

"I will not be spoken to in such a way by some snot-nosed brat!" Karkaroff replied lividly. James glared at the self-important foreign headmaster while he slowly, and deliberately raised his fist in front of the man's face and raised a single finger. James had seen the obscene gesture on a muggle television a few times, and while its meaning was lost on most of the room Fleur Delacour and Mad-eye Moody both chuckled at the exchange.

"Bugger off!" James spat before spinning around and retreating to a lone corner of the room.

Dumbledore surveyed the group, wondering why events had turned out this way. James Nyght was a non-entity in the Wizarding world, a muggle born orphan who while talented had never drawn much attention to himself. He had expected Voldemort to make a play at Harry if anything. It was possible however that Voldemort's minion had somehow made a mistake, that Harry had been meant to be entered; but he could not comprehend how someone could be skilled enough to fool the Goblet of Fire into forcing a fourth entity to participate yet foolish enough to somehow enter the wrong student. The more plausible solution was that James Nyght was indeed the true target but that in itself seemed implausible. The aged headmaster rubbed his temples in an attempt to rid himself of the growing headache that was begging to plague him when the French Headmistress spoke.

"Well it zeems only fair that we continue to enter the names of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's students until we each have a second champion ourzelves."

"That won't work Madam." Mad-eye replied gruffly. "The Goblets flame has burnt out. It won't ignite again until the next tournament. I'm afraid we must proceed as it is."

"Durmstrang shall not stand for such blatant favoritism! We will not take part in this travesty." Karkaroff said as he turned with a flourish of his cloak. "Come Victor."

"Not so fast Karkaroff! You're student is in a magically binding contract, he longer has any choice but to participate." Moody barked out. "However if you truly feel so insulted it would hardly be a loss if you decided to vacate the premises." Mad-eye Moody grinned at his jab, his scarred and misshapen face giving him the appearance of a joyful demon.

Dumbledore sighed in exasperation and decided to put an end to the squabbling. "The Champions have been selected. I suggest that Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman explain the rules of the first task so that we may all get on with this tournament."

"Yes, yes. Right to it I suppose." Ludo Bagman replied as he stepped in between the four champions. "The first task is designed to test your daring; Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard. On November 30th a Wednesday I believe, you will be faced with an unknown challenge. Now the day before you will have your wands tested to ensure that they are in proper working order. Wouldn't do to have anyone turn up dead now would it?"

"No one dead in a tournament that is infamous for killing over half of its champions? Good luck with that!" James snapped. "Now if you'll excuse me some of us have to try and prevent our impending dooms!" Without another word spoken James pushed his way out of the room into the now empty Great Hall. *Susan. Susan's aunt is head of the DMLA; she might know some spells that can help. And the seventh years should be able to help me practice.* James rushed to the Hufflepuff dorms confident that he would find help from the house of hard work and loyalty.

AN: So this my first stab at a Harry Potter fic but this idea has been floating around in my head for a while. Now while Harry Potter is not the lead in this story he will not be ignored and obviously has an important part to play. The chapters will be short but I will be trying to upload chapters quickly. Soooo please review for me guys! I really want to know whether or not people are enjoying this story.


	2. Preparations for the first task

While Harry Potter relaxed on the calm Saturday afternoon he pondered how closely he had dodged the bullet that was the Triwizard Tournament. Normally he would have expected to be right at the center of it all but somehow his luck had changed. He felt bad for the bloke that had been named the fourth champion. While the James fellow seemed sincere in his claims that he hadn't placed his own name in the Goblet of Fire it was difficult to know whether or not to believe him; his whole house had turned against him after all. Hufflepuff was known for its loyalty and if the loyal 'puffs had turned their backs on him they must have had a really good reason for not believing him. Harry was happy for the first time, secure in the knowledge that he had escaped the spotlight and that he had somehow evaded the weight of having a life threatening quest looming over him.

On the other side of the castle James was pouring over both new textbooks and musty old tomes of hidden knowledge alike. After the events of Halloween night he had returned to the Hufflepuff dorms confident that he would have the help of his entire house keeping him alive in this suicidal tournament. Instead he had found that they all thought him to have placed his own name in the cup in his own quest for glory and riches, a move fit for a Slytherin. The end result was that James was left alone, again. The friends he had made since coming to Hogwarts had abandoned him and so James made do with what resources he had available to him. He had spent the past week since Halloween researching every spell he could find, writing down everything he thought might be useful in an endless journal that he had gotten from one of his now former friends the previous year. Tomorrow he would abandon the library for an empty classroom where he could practice everything he had researched.

Sunday morning had arrived James had tried to leave the Hufflepuff dorms before anyone else woke up but instead had the bad luck to run into Hannah Abbot who refused to even look at him. Seeing his once best friend turn her back on him so suddenly brought back the painful memories of Halloween… _James opened the door to the Hufflepuff common area apprehensively, knowing that he would have to convince his housemates that he had not entered himself into the Tournament, thus casting a shadow on Cedric's own accomplishment. He stepped into the room and found that all of the fourth years and above were assembled and waiting._

" _So what do you have to say for yourself Nyght?" One of the sixth years questioned._

" _Ya, You sure have some nerve trying to upstage Cedric! What the hell is that all about?" Zacharias Smith spouted. He had always been a petty spoiled brat and was no doubt loving that James was in a spot of trouble._

" _I didn't enter into the Tournament!"_

" _Then why did Zach see you in the great hall with the Goblet of Fire last night?" One Seventh year asked._

" _What are you talking about? I never went anywhere near that bloody Goblet last night!" James glared at Zach, the bastard must have woven some jacked up story to convince the others that he had broken the rules for his own glory; a very unhufflepuff action to take. Hufflepuffs stood out by excelling within the rules after all, whereas other houses may take shortcuts a Hufflepuff did things properly and came out the better for it._

" _Don't even try to lie to us Nyght! I already told them all about how you snuck out of the dorms last night! You woke me up on your way out so I followed you to see what you were up to!" Zacharias gloated "I didn't tell anyone at first, thinking that there was no way the Goblet would pick you but when Your name popped out I knew you must have used some sort of magic to cheat your way in. I had to tell the rest of the house! You left me no choice Nyght!"_

" _You bloody liar!" James shouted as he charged the fellow teenaged boy, managing to land several solid hits before the older boys could pull him off. "I'll tear you apart you fucking bastard!" The rest of the students had refused to listen to anything else he had to say after that, violence was another thing looked down upon in Hufflepuff, at least when used against fellow members of the house. Zach had won and James was left alone, abandoned, and without even his best friend who had always abhorred violence…_

James rushed to the great hall for a hearty breakfast then disappeared to the sixth floor where he had found a large unused classroom that he could turn to his own uses. The large circular room could have easily held a hundred students back in its day was now barren, James had vanished all the desks and chairs and then conjured a new large stone desk. It had put a strain on his magic but it felt good to let his magic a little loose and he imagined it would be better once he started getting into battle magic. James opened his journal to the section he had dedicated to bombardment type charms and curses such as Bombarda and Explosia. He couldn't practice much defensive magic without a partner and had decided that in this case the best defense he could muster would be an unrelenting offense. A single floor above him the Gryffindor's were wondering where the sequence of explosion sounds were coming from and decided that collectively pinning the blame on the Weasley twins was the safest bet.

Come Tuesday evening a certain bushy haired brunette witch by the name of Hermione Granger had reached the end of her nerves. The sound of spell fire and explosions had rarely ceased all weekend and was even continuing into the school week. While she could just do her homework in the library she still found the Gryffindor common room was far more relaxing most of the time, not to mention that Harry and Ron detested the library. So with that in mind and upon sighting the Weasley twins she shot out of her seat and made a beeline straight for them. "Fred! George! Will you two put a stop to your racket? I can barely think with all that noise."

"We'd help you if we could but-" started George.

"it isn't us this time you see." finished Fred with a mischievous grin.

"Some bloke has locked himself-"

"up in an old classroom below us." Hermione had lost track of which twin had spoken what by this point, something the twins often did by design for their own amusment.

"Perhaps you should go yell at him." Said both twins in perfect unison with massive identical grins on their faces.

Hermione glared ineffectually at the twins for several long moments before stomping out of the common room. Before she knew it Hermione ended up in front of a sixth floor classroom, the very classroom that all the racket was originating from. The brown haired Gryffindor had intended to charge in and relentlessly berate whoever was on the other side into submission but standing there, so close to the source of the noise she could feel the magical energy in the air and faltered for a moment. Instead of slamming the door open she merely pushed it open a crack and instead of charging in she found herself peering through said crack and was surprised at what she saw. James Nyght, who had skipped all his classes in the past week so far as she could tell, was casting spells with an intensity she had not seen in anyone before.

Hermione had assumed that the fourth year Hufflepuff was expecting to coast through the school year with the guaranteed passes that all the Champions enjoyed. It was sure to backfire and was the type of half-baked, hare-brained plan she would expect from her friend Ron rather than a Hufflepuff however standing before her however was proof that James Nyght was not slacking in the least. Hermione found herself checking on James almost every day for over a week. "Just to prove whether or not he was training seriously or just fooling around" she told herself but there was something more to it, someone who was lying about being forced to participate in the Triwizard tournament wouldn't be working so hard after all.

James had been using the sixth floor classroom for two weeks now and only had a little over a week left to prepare. The problem, aside from the lack of time or idea of what he would be doing was that he had gotten stuck on one his shielding spells. He was reasonably sure that he had the basic one down pat but there was one that eluded him, Prohibere Elementorum. It was supposed to be a single direction shield that was highly effective against elemental attacks and could supposedly be combined with a Depulso charm to send the attack back to its source. While James had not wanted to put too much time into defensive spells without any way to test them he know that this one could be immeasurably useful so he had retreated back to the library stacks in hopes that he could find some clue that would help him but nothing seemed to help. It was here that he was confronted by one Hermione Granger.

"Did you do it?" She asked while standing across from him.

"Do what exactly?" James replied despite being perfectly aware that she meant to refer to his entrance into the tournament.

"Put your name in the Goblet."

James stared at Hermione for several moments. He had noticed her over the years, but then how could he not? Smartest witch in their year, always trying to answer every question herself, and becoming incredibly cuter with every year he admitted to himself. Despite his reaction the the bushy haired brunette James couldn't help but feel bitter. *Here's just one more person to mock me* he thought to himself. "I didn't. Now if you'll excuse me I need to work out some spells." James snapped dismissively, something that Hermione seemed to take as an invitation as she sat down right beside him and reached over to look at one of the books strewn across the table in front of him.

"What spell are you having trouble with?" Hermione asked.

James blushed as he felt Hermione brush up against his arm. "Wh- what?"

"Which spell?" Hermione said matter-of-factly while staring him in the eyes. James pulled his notebook from the pile and pointed at the Prohibere Elementorum spell disbelievingly.

"Why are you helping me? You don't even know me." James asked after a moment.

"Because you need it. Besides you didn't ask to be part of this, did you?" It was less of a question and more of a statement, a statement that confused the young James Nyght. His entire house had turned on him, a house renowned for its loyalty and yet here was this Gryffindor witch whom he had barely spoken more then a few sentences to over the course of the past three and a bit years and she was helping him with barely a question.

"Oh..." was all that James could muster in response.

"Let's go to your classroom and you can show me how you cast the spell. Then I can try to see what you do wrong." Hermione said as she pulled James to his feet dragging him out of the library and up to his not so hidden training room

"So show it to me." Said Hermione.

"Uhhh, what?" James asked carefully, wondering how thus girl seemed to know exactly where his practice room was. *Come to think of it, the Gryffindor tower is supposed to be around here somewhere isn't it?* James thought to himself before Hermione snapped him out of his reflection.

"The spell! Honestly if you want my help then try to pay attention."

"Right... Prohibere elementorum!" James incanted with a flourish of his wand, a sickly gray field of energy appeared in front of him, a far cry from the brilliant cascade of red, blue, and green that it would have been if it were cast properly.

"Hmmm... try it again." Hermione told James, and so he did, several times and all the while Hermione chewed slightly on her bottom lip while twirling a small tuft of her hair absentmindingly.

"Well? What am I doing wrong?" James asked after half a dozen failed attempts.

"It could be that you're not putting enough magic into it. Or maybe you have the incantation wrong. Try pronouncing the bere in Prohibere a little more strongly."

James stared at Hermione blank for a moment before raising his wand once more. "There's no way it's that simple..." James muttered to himself under his breath. "Prohibere Elementorum!" As James cast the spell he immediately felt something different about the spell from any of the other times he had attempted to cast it. Magic poured out of his wand into a shimmering wall of color in front of him like water.

"It worked!" Hermione shouted as James gave her a slightly lopsided grin.

"I can't believe it was something so simple. I'm an idiot." James groaned, cancelling the spell and sliding to the floor. Hermione walked over and sat beside him, sliding closer when she felt how cold the stone floor was.

"Well I would have to disagree with you." Hermione said with a smile. "That was supposed to be at least a NEWT level spell. I'm surprised you were able to get as far as you did with it on your own."

"I never would have thought of that. Thank you Hermione, you're amazing."

"It was no big deal..." Hermione replied as a blush started to creep up her cheeks at the unexpected compliment. "I didn't do anything, it was all you."

"No," James was not going to have such a lovely witch be so self-deprecating. "if it wasn't for you I never would have figured this spell out in time for the first task." James said strongly as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Well, umm, did you want some more help? I mean, if you think you need it that is." Hermione stuttered, feeling rattled by the compliment and strangely comfortable with his arm around her. Her friends were great but Ron rarely showed appreciation and Harry was usually too preoccupied by some sort of impending doom. She knew they both (or at least Harry) appreciated her, but hearing someone say it was completely different than just knowing it and if she were being honest with herself it felt quite good.

"Really? You want to keep helping me?" James asked, surprised. He had assumed that Hermione just happened to have a free afternoon and was bored enough to have nothing better to do then help the school outcast.

"Well you did say that nobody is helping you in your house and well, I'm used to having some sort of adventure every year. I guess I miss it."

"Well my year is going to be chock-full of adventure Hermione; for however long it lasts." James said laughing as he did so.

"You can't talk like that James." Hermione snapped. "The moment you start to expect you'll die is when you lose!" James looked up at the ceiling and sighed. She was right of course; she had a reputation for always being right and it seemed to be well earned.

"Ok. Well let's go one step further!" James shot up and grasped Hermione's hands, pulling her up to his level. "I'm going to beat this tournament! I'm going to show whoever put me in this insane, sadistic death race that I'm not someone to mess with." James spoke with a passion set aflame by his residual anger. It was time to stop moping and start looking at how to do more then just survive!

Harry Potter was sitting in the great hall across from Ron, trying to convince a particularly cowardly bishop to follow his orders in a game of wizard's chess. However the two teenaged wizards were feeling distracted from their game. So much so that Harry was almost having a half decent match against his more strategically minded friend. Neither of them had seen much of Hermione in the past two weeks, in fact aside from classes they were lucky to get more then a few words from her before she disappeared again. Harry had even heard Lavender saying that Hermione hadn't come back to the dorms some nights and had to take her aside and make sure the girl didn't accidently start a vicious rumor.

Ron seemed to think that she was dating some boring Ravenclaw and that she would come back to them soon enough once she realized "How utterly boring those haughty pretentious bookworms were". Truly he was a little jealous and his temper had suffered for it. Several of the Gryffindor boys had decided to avoid the ginger wizard until he "got his panties out of a knot" as Seamus put it. Harry on the other hand felt that Hermione was doing something important and was hurt that she hadn't asked for his help. Sure he wanted to have a normal year for once but he didn't want his best friends to leave him out of any adventure they had either. Harry had become slightly withdrawn and quieter than usual due to his uncertainty that had sprouted concerning his long-time friendship with Hermione, this was in fact the only reason that he and Ron had not fought as of yet. Ron could hardly take offense to anything Harry said since Harry just didn't say much. All of Gryffindor was left wondering what could have possibly happened to the golden trio but nobody had any answers.

James was in a fifth floor classroom, having moved a floor down after Hermione explained to him that he had inadvertently set up shop directly underneath the Gryffindor common room. He had been spending the last few days reviewing everything he and Hermione had practiced; conjuring, transfiguration, shielding charms, summoning and banishing charms, and a few choice hexes to round it off. Most of their training had focused on defensive applications with some focus placed on multipurpose hexes for some offensive power as opposed to his earlier training which had focused more heavily on powerful attack spells to make up for what he thought would be a weak defense. Today was the weighing of the wands ceremony and tomorrow would bring the first task, from which James still had no idea what to expect.

"Stop worrying James. We've done all we can and quite frankly you have progressed remarkably quickly." Hermione said as she sat on top of a desk that James had conjured, swinging her legs through the air as James paced in front of her.

"I still have no idea what I'm facing tomorrow Hermione. Cedric seems rattled lately but the other two, Fleur and Victor? They seem as cool as a pickle. They know what's coming, I'm sure of it!" James knew he was right; the other two schools were willing to do anything to win, to beat Dumbledore. Yet Dumbledore was too noble to even give him a hint for what was to come despite his life being on the line!

Hermione slid off the desk and wrapped James in her arms. "You'll be fine James. They won't make you face anything that will kill you, I'm sure of it. The tournament is going to be different this time, they told us so." Hermione and James had grown much closer in the past two weeks, while they had not taken any action that would be considered as more then friendly they could certainly both feel that something was there. James had already been attracted to the bushy haired witch but in getting to know her better he realized that she was more then just a pretty face and an incredible intelligence. There was a relentless bravery hidden behind her teacher's pet facade and every time he saw it he wanted more.

Hermione had felt things changing between herself and the dark haired boy over the past several days and had no idea what she was supposed to do. She had seen the way James had looked at her when he thought she wasn't looking and she loved the way those looks made her feel. Then add on top of that the determination he was showing and it was nearly impossible not to feel attracted to him.

"You need to get going James. The wand weighing is going to start any minute."

"I know Hermione. I just wish we had more time to prepare." James replied with a grim smile. Hermione stepped forward and wrapped her arms around James's torso, burrowing her face into his chest.

"You'll perform wonderfully James. We went through some really powerful spells." Hermione spoke softly before reaching up and kissing James gingerly on the cheek. "Now get out of here! You don't want to be late."

AN: So Chapter 2 is here! Next chapter we will see James enter unto the first task! Will he prevail? Will his training prove to be effective? Will he crash and burn with Hermione? All these questions and more will be answered in the coming chapters! To learn the answers before anyone else simply follow, favorite, and review this story!


	3. James versus the Hungarian Horntail!

Harry Potter was feeling infinitely grateful at that exact moment. The announcer for the first task had just revealed that the Champions were set to face off against dragons! Dragons of all things! He had truly dodged a bullet this year, and turned to tell Hermione about it only to find she had disappeared. "Where did Hermione go?" Harry asked Ron.

"I dunno, she was sitting beside you mate." The two boys of the golden trio sat there dumbfounded, wondering where their friends could have gone and why she would have left.

Hermione's heart was racing as she ran to the Champions tent. She just couldn't believe that they would make James face a dragon! Or any of the Champions for that matter, they were only 17 or 18 at the oldest and most wizards wouldn't go near a dragon without a whole squad backing them up. How did Dumbledore expect a 14 year old wizard to survive one by himself? Hermione spotted the back of the tent and quickly sidled up beside it. "James?" She whispered hoping he would hear her.

James turned his head as he heard someone call his name. It had sounded like Hermione but he couldn't see her. After hearing his name a second time he noticed that it came from near the back of the tent and lifted the cover up to see a frazzled looking Hermione standing on the other side. "Hermione? Get in here!" James said quickly. "Why are you here?"

"I- I had to make sure you were ok! They're sending you against Dragons James! What are they thinking?" Hermione wrapped James up in a hug as she started to shake. "It's like they're trying to get you killed! Why didn't Dumbledore stop it?"

"Calm down Hermione. It's all going to be ok." James whispered as he tried to soothe the panicking witch. "It's don't have to kill the dragon just outmaneuver it." James wrapped his arms around Hermione more tightly as he spoke, feeling her body start to shake. Ironically he should be the one panicking but seeing Hermione like this made him forget all his worries and doubts as he became determined to finish the first task as unscathed as possible.

"Promise me you'll be okay?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Promise." James replied as Hermione looked up into his eyes. Next thing he knew her lips were pressed up against his, softly at first but quickly crushing against him and James did the only thing he could think of and kissed her back.

The first three Champions had all gone and only James was left, James and his Hungarian Horntail. He had spent the entire waiting period desperately pressed up against Hermione, their lips and tongues constantly attempting to occupy the same space while they each attempted to forget the danger that was fast approaching. They ignored the shouts and screams from the crowd of spectators outside as they watched the first three champions compete and when the announcer had finally called for James he barely registered it and had to force himself to release Hermione from his embrace so he could leave to face the inevitable task before him. James stepped out of the tent and slowly entered the arena and simply stood there at the entrance, frozen to the spot as he stared at the dragon before him. She was a massive specimen that looked more likely to use him as a toothpick than eat him due to her ridiculously massive size.

Gathering his courage James raised his wand and started spouting out transfiguration spells, turning the rubble around him into a variety of animals to harass the mother dragon. The Horntail payed them little attention and stared at James with a chillingly human-like intelligence, watching him move and taking in his wand movements as though it could understand what he was doing. As the first of his transfigurations, a pack of wolves, came close the Horntail merely spread her wings and knocked them away with ease while rearing up and shooting a jet of flame into the air.

James took this chance to dash forward, flicking his wand so the eagles he had transfigured from the rubble would attempt to keep the mother dragon's attention up high so that he might move unnoticed. He scrambled up the rocky platform and deftly rolled out of the way of a massive clawed foot that came crashing down towards him. Suddenly the Horntails foot swung to the side and knocked him twenty feet away, soaring over the pile of eggs! James looked up dazed and saw a furious dragon's mouth open up with sparks starting to fly from between her enormous yellowed teeth. James shouted "Prohibere Elementorum!" with all his might and saw a multicolored mist spray out from the end of his wand just in time to stop the flames from scorching him, yet they did little to stop the heat and James could feel his skin roasting. Keeping his wand steady James stood up and angled himself allowing the shield to slightly turn the flames away so he could escape by running out of the fires path.

Harry and Ron were barely paying attention as Hermione seemed distraught and they each had an arm around her wondering why she was so invested in what happened to this James Nyght fellow. The whole audience was deathly silent and the announcer had been expecting to report the unfortunate boy's demise but James had taken everyone by surprise with that spell. Hardly anyone had even known of its existence aside from a few of the more knowledgeable professors such as Snape, McGonagall and of course the Headmaster. Even Mad-eye Moody was watching with unprecedented interest, deciding that perhaps he had written the boy off with just a tad too much haste.

James eyed the dragon defiantly and she glared back at him. She drew her head in, coiling her neck and without warning her head shot forward like that of a striking snake! Her jaw opened as her skull flew forward blindingly fast; James hopped to the side and shouted "Bombarda!" knocking the Horntails head into the craggy wall behind him as he jumped back several paces firing off several curses. A reductor spell smashed against a large dagger-like tooth with little effect while a second Bombarda knocked the mother dragons head another time and a conjunctivitis curse caused the left eye to swell shut. James finished off his combo with the Explosia curse, a dark red and black orb materialized at the end of his wand then slowly flew towards the dragon; enveloping the beast in a massive explosion that covered nearly half the dragons body. Roaring in pain and rage the Horntail spun around bringing her gigantic club like tail to bear against James who barely managed to dive below it. Unsatisfied with her results the Horntail swung her namesake tail back the way it had come this time scoring a glancing blow on James with one of the many horn like spikes impaling itself in his shoulder, taking him flying as the tail soared through the air.

James landed with an audible crack on the opposite side of the arena when his head smashed against the rough rocky terrain the Quidditch pitch had been converted to. He slowly staggered to his feet as the Hungarian Horntail preened herself for the successful attack.

Harry was frantically attempting to console Hermione as she sat there sobbing "He's going to die. He's going to die." wondering when his best friend had started caring so much about the outcast Hufflepuff.

Back in the arena James was running and jumping from a multitude of flames as he attempted to fire more curses at the behemoth of a dragon that was intent on ending him and all his dreams. James didn't know what to do anymore, he had failed to trick the crafty dragon and he found himself unable to outmaneuver her in what felt like a tiny arena when shared with such a beast. All James had on his mind now was trying to make it to the time limit when the judges would finally let him withdraw and escape this madness. The Horntail shot off blast after blast of flames at him only to trap him in a corner where he could not escape, the Horntail coiled her neck for another physical assault and James braced himself against the boulder behind him and shouted "REPELLERE ICTUM!" watching a mostly transparent white shield appeared in front of him, wincing as the dragons impact against the shield created a massive detonation similar to a sonic boom that left everyone's ears ringing.

James wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up, his magic reserves were falling quickly and he didn't want to bet on surviving until the time limit, the Horntail was viscously attacking him without respite. Looking around at his surroundings James knew that if he was going to survive that he had to stop running, and start to fight back!

James waited for the dragon to ready itself for another blast of fire before dodging to her left; knowing that the shedragon would turn to keep him in the field of vision of her remaining good eye, and just as that eye came into view he shouted "LUMOS MAXIMA!" and loosed a blindingly bright light. He quickly ran to the dragon's right side where the Horntail was less likely to expect him to have run to and started bombarding the large boulders around him, causing them to break into multiple smaller pieces as the Horntail dragon fired a constant stream of fire on her left side. James summoned the pieces of rock that he had blasted and frantically started to transfigure them into a dozen large 8 foot long Greatswords, James knew that the shedragon would recover her sight any moment and he couldn't let her see what he was doing, while he was unsure of just how intelligent the monster was James was unwilling to take any chances.

The moment he was done James ran back to the right and shot off a cutting curse that bounced off the dragon's thick scaly hide harmlessly and followed it up with a reductor spell that claimed the same effect, to do nothing more than draw the angry dragon's attention towards him. Now that he was standing farther along the arena and a good distance from the transfigured swords James stared his foe down and the dragon took several moments to size him up. He was bleeding heavily from his shoulder and all across his back were a multitude of scrapes and cuts, it was fair to say that his robes had been shredded to practical nonexistence. The dragon could smell his exhaustion and savored it while slowly stepping forward. James crouched low until it looked like he was ready to pounce, waiting for the exact moment when he would strike. The Horntail flared her wings, surrounding James to break off any attempt at escape and started to summon her fire, James saw the sparks flying from her mouth and shot forward!

James shouted "Obiectum Motus Flexibus!" as he ran and the dozen giant stone swords that had been prepared moments before rose into the air, two shot forward and pierced the soft membrane of the Horntails wings; she tried to rear up in pain only to tear her wings even further. The flames that she had been summoning leaked out from her jaw in pitiful spurts and James directed the other ten swords to spin around the shedragon, slashing at her as they did so. With a bellow of pain and rage the dragon swung her tail managing to smash two of the stone blades while another three broke against her thick scales. James slid under the dragon and fired off the most powerful banishing spell he could shouting "Alarte Ascendare!" managing to lift the beast twenty feet in the air as it spread its wings and tried to take flight. James quickly fired off the Arresto Momentum before he rolled out of the way, struggling to raise his wand again James managed to direct the remaining five swords beneath the falling dragon point up and muttered "Descendo." tripling the Horntails falling velocity. The massive Hungarian Horntail smashed into the ground with a resounding crack that sent dust flying everywhere and hiding the scene from both the audience and the young champion.

*Let it be done. Please just let it be done.* James couldn't even stand anymore and was using all his strength to remain upright on his knees. Hermione, Harry and Ron were all praying for the tasks end as well, Hermione for James's sake while Harry and Ron were hoping that if it ended than Hermione might be able calm down. As the dust began to settle James squinted towards the centre of impact and saw a vague shape blur towards him, with little magic left to call on James used his arms to block his body and grit his teeth for the impact. The blunt side of the tail crashed into James sending him soaring into the the stony walls behind him.

Hermione screamed, Harry jumped to his feet, several of the teachers that had grimly watched James be relentlessly beaten by the dragon leapt forward and the team of dragon handlers scrambled to gain the enraged and severely wounded dragons attention as she prepared to summon one final gout of fire to end the tiny creature that dared to harm her. James was lying on the ground, his vision blurred and his limbs lying battered and broken. He could feel his life ebbing away when he saw her. Hermione was in the stands, trying to run to his aid while her friends had grabbed her from behind in order to stop her. Even though everything seemed to just be mindless ringing noise he could somehow hear Hermione's screams as clearly as though she was the only sound left in the world. She was pointing at something James realized after a few moments and turned to follow her finger. James saw the flames flow out of the dragon's jaws, flying towards him in slow-motion as he looked between the fire and the distraught witch he cared for. At that moment something inside of James broke.

James felt magic swell within him like never before, it was rushing through his veins, shooting out of his pores, wrapping him in its warm embrace and he had never felt so much power! He somehow managed to stand and raised his bloody battered arms, clenching his wand with both hands and stared ahead at the incoming flames before softly saying. "Prohibere Elementorum." A red blue and green shield was ejected from the end of his wand that smashed into the incoming stream of fire inches away from himself. With a primal roar James began pushing the shield forward and started to step towards the dragon. Everyone that had leapt into action just moments before were all stunned into inaction as James entered into a battle of pure power with the dragon that had just nearly killed him. The same dragon started to back up as her owns flames began to come dangerously close to her own face and she decided on a different approach, she staggered to her feet and charged at the magically revived wizard.

James saw the dragon coming and switched his spell incanting "Repellere Ictum" with a strained and raspy voice. The Horntail smashed against the shield with all her might and was instantly stopped. James raised his wand with one hand and summoned all the rubble in the area to a point above him and transfigured it into an enormous twenty five foot long steel great sword that he then floated over the stunned shedragon. By this point magic was pouring off of James in visible waves, and his eyes glowed with an eerie blue light that made his steel grey eyes seem utterly inhuman. Mad-eye Moody was watching in a enraptured state as he saw a level of magic that was unprecedented in anyone so young and Dumbledore stood at the ready, waiting for when he might need to defend the boy should this sudden inexplicable strength fail him as suddenly as it had aided him whereas Harry and Ron were still constraining Hermione in order to stop her from running out into the rocky arena of the first task.

James could feel the strength in him energizing him and wrapping him in its embrace, feeling the magic in a way he had never experienced it before. He pointed his wand tip to the sky and with a smirk he flicked it down while whispering "Descendo." The enormous steel sword plummeted into the earth below, tearing right through the dragon between it and the ground, burying itself up to the hilt before James lifted it again only to drop it back down. He continued this process several times until the once mighty dragon lied in shredded pieces and the earth below it was scored with several gaping holes. The entire crowd went silent, even Hermione found she was unable to utter a single sound as she took in the sight of the brutally destroyed dragon. James staggered four steps towards the exit and fell forward face first into the ground one last time...

AN: So there it is. The first task has been completed, the scores of the 4 champions will be revealed in the next chapter. So what does everyone think?


End file.
